


In Kirkwall Demons Never Sleep

by Lyrium_Elf_Assassin



Series: A Wolf and Three Crows [9]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, Kirkwall (Dragon Age), M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-15 20:07:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29441634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyrium_Elf_Assassin/pseuds/Lyrium_Elf_Assassin
Summary: Fenris and his new family -- Zevran and Nadami -- return to Kirkwall to help Varric with an important task. His old life clashes with the new one, and everything spins toward a disaster.
Relationships: Fenris/Original Female Character(s), Zevran Arainai/Fenris, Zevran Arainai/Fenris/Original Female Character(s), Zevran Arainai/Original Female Character(s)
Series: A Wolf and Three Crows [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1172960
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Another instalment in the series. To fully understand the main relationship (how Zevran, Fenris and Nadami came to be together), I'd advice to read the first part ("A Crow's Daughter"). Other works are not necessary, because they're standalone stories.
> 
> Other than the continuation of the relationship, this story is a standalone adventure.

Return… Arrival? Coming? Yes, _coming_ to Kirkwall wasn’t what Fenris expected. Things looked the same, yet different.

He’d received a message from Varric with a request: the dwarf needed help. He’d been very vague, so the warrior had no idea what it was about, but he didn’t want to refuse. He only hoped Varric had long forgotten about those four sovereigns Fenris still owed him.

He glanced at Nadami. She hadn’t said anything but it was obvious that she wasn’t happy about this development. He didn’t know why, and when he’d asked, she wasn’t forthcoming, but he could clearly see something bothered her. Now, she walked with a frown that didn’t belong on her cute little face.

Zevran, on the other hand, had a huge smile on his face, looked around with interest, even though it wasn’t his first visit in the city. Maybe he just compared how the place had changed since they both left it a few years ago.

Varric promised to secure accommodation in his letter, so the first place they headed after their arrival was his office. A smirk appeared on Fenris’s face for a short moment. The dwarf was now a very important person. The most important person in Kirkwall, in fact.

“I… I’ll make a small detour, if that is fine?” Zevran said.

“Why?” Nadami asked him.

He only winked at her, then took an alley, and soon they couldn’t see him.

“Do you know where he’s going?” she asked the other elf.

Fenris only shook his head. The Crow’s departure as was a surprise to him as well.

They crossed the square which the warrior didn’t remember fondly; there were still some signs of the fight with Meredith. The… thing she’d turned into was gone, but things didn’t look as they used to.

He was half the way to the top on the stairs when he realised that Nadami wasn’t following him. He turned to see her at the bottom, staring at the great bird that towered over the square from its place on the arch. He patiently waited for her. Someone bumped into her, interrupting her contemplation. She ran up to him, and together they walked upstairs.

“I thought Denerim was impressive. Then, Antiva City. But this place…” She searched for words. “This place is somehow… terrifying.”

“Don’t forget this place used to be the centre of slave trade,” Fenris grumbled. “It was built to be terrifying. To take away your hope.”

Her lips thinned in disgust.

“They also liked to make people walk a lot,” she muttered, when she saw that after climbing all those stairs, they had to walk a long alley to climb even more stairs.

As they walked, she studied everything. The flags, the bird statues, the people.

They entered the Keep.

“Oh, great, even more stairs!”

“They don’t want you to forget who is the boss,” Fenris smirked.

“Who are you to see here, sera?” a nicely dressed man asked Nadami.

Fenris frowned, frustrated. Some things never changed. Of course they assumed he was her man servant, so she was the person in charge to be asked questions.

“Master, I don’t know what he asks. Master?” she squeaked in a silly voice, grabbing his arm, and half-hiding behind him.

The confused staff looked at Fenris, then Nadami, then back at Fenris, and so on.

Finally, the warrior took pity on him. “I’m here to see Viscount Varric Tethras.”

“He’s currently not in.”

“Is Guard-Captain Aveline in, then?”

The man squinted at him, but nodded.

Fenris started walking.

“Her office is–”

“I know where it is,” the warrior barked, and finally the offended human left them be.

“What a jerk,” Nadami noted, as they climbed some more stairs. She followed him without question, probably remembering who Aveline was when he’d mentioned her at some point.

The door to Aveline’s office was open, so Fenris stepped in, knocked on the frame, and waited for her to raise her head from her work at the desk.

“Give me a raise and call me a viscount!” she laughed, seeing him. She stood up, coming from behind her desk, and waving invitingly in. “Varric mentioned you could be coming, but I wasn’t sure you’d want to return to this… mess.”

“So, nothing changed, hmm?”

“Changed? Sure, for worse,” she chuckled. She looked over his shoulder at Nadami. “And your friend is…?”

Fenris felt himself blush. “Uuuuuh…” Words stuck in his throat, and refused to leave. He felt almost embarrassed by his life being… normal and happy.

“My name is Nadami,” he heard Nadami say very quietly. Almost a whisper. Aveline nodded to her politely. “And I am absolutely no one.” With that, she left the office.

Fenris knew he messed up. He knew he’d hurt her. “Ughhhhh,” he half-grunted, half-sighed. He raised his hand to his forehead and rubbed it, closing his eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Aveline asked.

“She’s… she’s my wife.”

The guard frowned. “You know, Fenris, if Donnic did to me what you just did to her, I’d kill him.”

“Yes, I am in a lot of trouble now,” he admitted.

She smiled softly at him. She moved a bit closer, and looked at his face. “Are you happy, Fenris? Is your life good?”

She had that motherly expression on her face, as she used to when she’d asked about his safety years ago.

“Yes,” he replied simply. Her smile became wider. “Is Donnic around?” he asked.

“No, he’s on patrol. How about you come by for dinner tonight. With your lovely wife. We can talk some more.”

“If she doesn’t kill me before then,” he chuckled, and she responded in kind. “There is… more of us than only two, though.”

“How many more?”

“Only three total.”

“Hmm,” she rubbed her chin. “Maybe the Hanged Man instead? We could also ask Varric to join us.”

“I’ll ask him. I’m on my way to him now.”

“You came to me first?” She seemed touched by it. He only smiled. “That would be great.”

“And… before my life is in a greater danger…” He chuckled and cleared his throat at the same time. “I also have a husband.”

She half-smiled. “You kept aloof from everyone for so long I’m not surprised you’re double catching up now.”

He laughed. “Yes, maybe that’s what it is.”

“Now get going. I have work to do.”

Shooed away, he left her office, and looked around to find Nadami.

She had gone upstairs, left the barracks, and now looked down on the main hall, leaning over the railing.

“I’m sorry,” he said. She glared at him. “I… don’t know what I was thinking…” He tried to wrap his mind around his own behaviour. “It’s just… When I lived here, I created an image of myself. I didn’t let anyone get close, and I… was not very friendly. Even after years of living here, I made very few friends, but I still felt I needed to keep up with my… brooding.” He sighed. Varric had been right all along. She turned to look at him. “I felt… I know it’s stupid, but I felt embarrassed by… having a regular life. Like a pretender.”

Her face expressed confusion. She didn’t understand, and he didn’t blame her, because he didn’t understand either.

“I’m very sorry,” he said again. “She said she’d kill her husband if he pulled a stunt like that.”

“I doubt you’re killable,” she grunted. Her dry joke gave him hope.

“I’m sure she’ll hold me still to help you do it. She’s strong. She could do it.”

“Was she a good friend of yours?”

The change of tone to more neutral, and the change of subject gave him even more hope.

“Yes,” he smiled. “She was always nice to me, even if I… wasn’t very nice to anyone.”

“I saw a dwarf going up there.” She pointed toward the great hall. “I think it was your other friend. He wore a… crown of some sort.”

“Then shall we?” He motioned toward the big double doors.

“Would you rather go alone?”

He stopped and looked at her. Her face appeared neutral, and he couldn’t tell her question was sincere or she just hid her bitterness that well. The question’s intent was a mystery to him – it could be either a snark or genuine query – but the answer was the same either way.

“No, not at all. Come with me.”

They were stopped by guards.

“The viscount said he wasn’t to be disturbed.”

“He’ll make an exception for me.”

“Not to disturb.”

“Go check with your captain. She’ll tell you to let me in.”

“We have our orders.”

“Check them again with the captain,” Fenris said is his most grumpy voice.

The effect was as he hoped. The guards looked at each other uncertain, then one stayed, while the other went to Aveline’s office. A few moments later he was back, and opened the door.

The Tevinter expected the place to be filled with people, and Varric busy with whatever viscounts did in this room. But the big hall was empty.

“Great, more stairs,” Nadami mumbled.

Fenris looked around, but he couldn’t see the dwarf anywhere. He went deeper into the hall, and was just about to leave and ask where Varric really was (for all he knew, the dwarf could just fake his presence here, while chilling somewhere else), when he noticed something on the throne at the back of the hall. He went upstairs closer, and before his eyes recognised what was going on, his ears knew.

The snoring was loud, and echoed slightly, as Fenris got closer. A quiet laughter started bubbling in his chest, but eventually found its way out.

Varric was sleeping on the big throne with a goblet in his hand, which rested on his lap. He woke up as Fenris’s cackling got louder.

“Elf!” the dwarf exclaimed, slightly spilling the beverage from his goblet.

“Varric.” He stated flatly. Then smiled a bit.

“Stop or your face will crack. Daisy warned you.”

The Tevinter only sighed.

The dwarf waved him closer, and Fenris approached him, making sure Nadami was right behind him. He wasn’t going to make the same stupid mistake again.

“Aren’t you too pretty a lady to tag along with porcupine Elf?” Varric asked her.

“What do you know about ladies?” Fenris asked him, emphasising the word ‘you’.

“Hey, Bianca is a perfect lady!”

“Bianca is a crossbow.”

“Isn’t that what I just said?”

“This is Nadami. My wife, and a weapon that cuts slavers.”

Varric first gave Fenris a suspicious glare, but then smiled at her. “What did you get yourself into, Freckles?!”

“Sometimes I ask myself the same question,” she replied. There was no joke in her answer, so the warrior knew she was still angry.

Varric gave Fenris a look, then glanced back at her, but to the elf’s relief, didn’t ask.

“I assume you’re tired after your journey,” the dwarf began, “so I’ll get someone to take you to your new home before you start squatting somewhere again.”

“I’d appreciate it.” For a moment, Fenris wanted to ask if the house he’d lived in was available, but changed his mind. He didn’t want to re-visit that place.

All three headed toward the exit.


	2. Chapter 2

Zevran knew Nadami long enough to see she was not happy about coming to Kirkwall. A small part of him worried she might be right, but another had faith in Fenris’s feelings.

She, on the other hand, saw things from her own perspective. The woman who never stopped loving couldn’t understand that people sometimes stopped loving. In her mind Fenris coming to Kirkwall meant he wanted to get back with Hawke, and the only thing that would convince her otherwise was that not happening. But before she’d see it not happening, she’d need a lot of reassurance and mood improvements.

Zevran was getting a headache from all those serious thoughts and worries. He hoped the nice little shop was still in the same place in the Hightown market, and that he had enough coin to get something lovely for her to get her into a mood of proving his feelings.

The merchant was different, but the merchandise still the same. Soaps. And massage oils. Orlesian and Antivan. Perfect!

He carefully chose fragrances she should enjoy, and almost completely emptied his coin purse. Worth it!

He headed back to the Keep. He hoped to catch Fenris and Nadami while still there, but if he missed them, he’d know whom to ask about their whereabouts.

The walk from the Keep to… well… anywhere was sufficiently long, so that by the time the Antivan approached the stairs that led to the massive building, Fenris, Nadami, and a dwarf appeared on the top. Instead of walking up, he just waited for them.

“Ah, exactly who I was looking for!” he exclaimed cheerfully, extending his arms toward them.

It took him mere seconds to recognise something was wrong. Nadami’s mood was dreadful. Even more than before.

“We’re going to our temporary lodgings,” Fenris explained. “Then we meet in the evening to discuss the details of the task ahead over dinner and game.”

“We have a bit of a problem with slavers here again,” Varric said. “Elf knows everything and more about the subject, the caves used, and all the tricks, so his advice is priceless.”

“You’ll make me blush,” the Tevinter grumbled.

“Not as much as I do!” Zevran pointed out triumphantly, winking naughtily.

Fenris only growled.

Nadami didn’t even smile, so now the Antivan was certain something had happened to make her this upset.

“We’re almost there!” Varric said, pointing ahead.

They were approaching a nice blue door surrounded by vines with little blue flowers.

“Looks like an entrance to a palace,” Zevran grinned.

Varric winked at him.

The Antivan saw that Nadami’s face tensed, while she was looking at the door. He followed her gaze and saw Hawke. As pretty as the last time he’d seen her, her blond hair now even longer, and facial tattoo slightly dimmed compared to her tanned skin.

Fenris slowed his pace.

“Well, here’s the key. Make yourself at home,” Varric handed the Tevinter the key, virtually pushing it into his hand, turned on his heel, and left.

The warrior’s slow walk was getting slower, and Zevran wasn’t sure he was preparing himself to talk to his former lover or trying to extend the time of not having to. The Antivan had no solution to that, but he knew that this talk should be between the two of them. He took the key from Fenris’s hand – the Tevinter didn’t resist – and pulled Nadami inside, leaving the other two to their conversation.

He could feel her squeezing his hand hard. He squeezed back, and she seemed to be surprised now when she realised her own grip. She let go of his hand, and quickly went through a door to another room. She tried to hide it, but he saw the tears forming in her eyes before she turned away from him.

This was going to be harder than he’d thought. He wasn’t sure whether to follow her or leave her be. He decided the former; she could always tell him to go away.

Her face shone from tears.

“Dami…” he whispered.

She looked at him, but – to his disappointment – didn’t come to hug him. “And she’s right here, waiting to take him back,” she said bitterly. “This whole idea,” she added, gesturing around, “is probably hers. She wanted to lure him here to have a chance to get him back. And she wasted no time to do it.”

Zevran didn’t argue. There was no point. He just went to her and wrapped his arms around her slim frame. She didn’t return the hug, but she tried to calm down.

He knew the source of her mood: she believed that once one fell in love, they never fell out of love. She was sure Fenris still felt affection for Hawke, and they were right this moment making up, and he would get back with her. The three of them had come to Kirkwall to lose the warrior.

While anything was possible, Zevran wasn’t convinced that was the inevitable result. But Nadami had to see for herself to believe it.

She wiped her tears, extricated herself from his arms, mumbled “You can’t force a man to love you” (which stung his heart, since he knew it applied to him a lot more than to Fenris), and left the room back to the hallway.

Only now Zevran realised they were in a kitchen. More than that: the kitchen was well stocked with good wines. Fenris had good friends!

He left it, and went to look around the place. Apparently, Nadami was doing the same thing. She’d dropped her backpack in what looked like the main room/library, and sat at the table. She seemed a bit calmer now.

“I have something for you,” he said. He put his own belongings next to hers, then extracted a small packet with his most recent purchase. He placed it in front of her.

She glared at him, then slowly opened it to find two soaps in the shape of a heart, and a small bottle of perfume. Her stiffness seemed to give a little, as she smelled the soaps.

“I will prepare a nice bath for you. If nothing else, the journey here was on a dusty road, yes?” he said, smiling softly.

She faintly nodded, so he went to warm up water.

OOO

“Hello,” Hawke said, smiling at Fenris.

For a moment, he was angered by this. She behaved like nothing had happened, like she hadn’t kicked him out of the city, like she hadn’t broken up with him, like there hadn’t been any harm done. But then he realised this conversation had to start somehow, and this was probably the most neutral way.

“Hawke,” he greeted her back coldly.

“How have you been? I hope everything is all right?”

“Yes.”

“I see you got yourself interesting company, Zevran is–”

“Hawke, get to the point,” he interrupted her. “You know I’m not much for small talk.”

She nodded, and collected her thoughts. “You disappeared without as much as a word, so I–”

“I disappeared?!” he barked loudly. Several heads of passers-by turned toward them, so he forced his voice down. “I disappeared?” he hissed furiously. “You told me to leave and not follow you. You told me to get lost. You told me to go away.” Every ‘you’ was emphasised by his finger pointing at her.

“I never– What are you talking about? I never wanted you to leave.” She seemed genuinely shocked by his words.

“ ‘I must send you away. Don’t follow me,’ “ he said, mocking her voice. Then continued in his regular voice, “Slave did his job, slave was sent away.”

“Fenris!” Her eyes showed surprise and sadness. “I never meant it that way. I just… I just–”

Again, he didn’t let her finish. “Is that so? And you expected me to still be here?”

“Of course!” she confirmed, nodding vigorously.

“So why was it Varric informing me that you weren’t returning? Why didn’t you send me a short note that you wouldn’t? You couldn’t be bothered find a merely few minutes to write me yourself? Not because you had nothing to say? Not because you didn’t expect me to be here – or care for me to know?”

“No! It’s more complicated than that!” she protested. She rubbed her face nervously.

“You told me to leave. You never tried to keep in touch. Even now you just stand here, waiting, like nothing happened.”

“I never wanted to end it with you, Fenris!” she exclaimed. Her voice was breaking.

“You made a very good show of ending it and even better by not caring what was happening to me.”

“I…” She hesitated, clearly not sure what to say. She took a deep breath, collecting her thoughts. “I thought you were angry, because I didn’t want you to go with me. I thought I needed to wait for your anger to go away, because I know what you can be like when upset. But I never wanted to… to never see you again. It’s just a misunderstanding.”

He silenced, not sure what to say to that. She hadn’t broken up with him, he’d just misunderstood. Misunderstood.

“Are you serious?” he asked quietly.

“Yes,” she smiled weakly.

He searched in his heart, looking for answers to questions that were really Nadami’s. Did he have any lingering feelings for Thanishar? Were his feelings for Nadami and Zevran any weaker now? Any doubts? Any regrets? A need to undo the last few years and return to Kirkwall and Hawke permanently?

Thanishar had been his lover. He would sometimes come to her house, eat food prepared by Orana, sleep with her, than go home.

Zevran and Nadami _were_ his home.

Misunderstanding or not, he moved on, and found people who were more to him than Hawke had ever been. For all he knew, it would have happened anyway. He’d never give them up.

But he didn’t want to be an ungrateful brat, if he also dismissed the years of friendship, and Thanishar had been a very good, reliable friend to him.

“I’m sorry, Hawke, but what is done is done, and cannot be undone,” he said calmly.

Her eyes studied his face, as if looking for doubts. Eventually, she sighed, and walked away.

He felt guilty.

He went into the house. He saw the bags that belonged to Nadami and Zevran on the floor, so put his on the pile, then went to explore the place.

A small, but well stocked kitchen. He grabbed a bottle of wine, and continued. A room with books, where Zevran was munching on a pie. The Antivan grinned at him, something green stuck to his front teeth. “Nice, big bed,” he said.

Fenris chuckled. No doubt, the assassin planned to test it tonight. However, indeed, the bedroom was pleasant. The window looked out on a street, not another building, but the morning sun wouldn’t fall directly on the bed to wake up sleepers too early. Soft pillows were piled up at the head. The whole room smelled really nice.

After a moment he realised that the smell came from an adjacent room. He went closer, and was greeted by steam even before he reached the threshold. Bathroom.

Nadami lay in the tub with her eyes closed, leaning her head on the edge behind. Her eyes were a bit puffy, so he knew she cried, even if all tears were washed away by now. She had to sense his presence, but didn’t react to it at all, so he assumed she wanted to be alone.

He left her be, and returned to the main room, sipping on his wine.

“Don’t get too filled up,” he said to Zevran. “We’re seeing my old… friends tonight for dinner. And maybe a game of wicked grace.”

“I hope you have some coin, because I spent almost all mine on soaps for Nadami.”

“Is that where you went?”

The Antivan nodded. “You know this is difficult for her.”

Fenris knew. He tried to be extra sweet and loving to her, to pay special attention to her needs, but it didn’t seem to work. Her mood was dreadful, and nothing could chase away clouds of her grumpiness.

Was she turning into him?


	3. Chapter 3

Fenris and Zevran entered the Hanged Man, and the Tevinter thought that some things seemed to never change. It smelled a bit different, but probably thanks to not-so-bad fragrances coming from the kitchen. The tables and chairs were the same. Some maybe more worn off than before. Even some faces were the same. That stain on the wall after either blood or wine hadn’t faded a bit.

A passing-by waitress informed them that Varric was upstairs in the room he used to live in. They headed over there and saw that he wasn’t alone. Quite a few people sat at a long dining table. There were three empty places left for them.

“We were just about to start without you!” Varric said. “Freckles didn’t come?” he added, his eyes darting from one elf to the other. There seemed to be a bit of disappointment in his voice, and the warrior wondered why he’d want to see her. But perhaps he was reading too much into it. Nadami was lovely, smart, and nice, so everybody should seek her company.

“You wouldn’t dare to start without us,” Fenris grumbled. He sat, stacking his plate with the one next to it, completely ignoring Varric’s question. What was he supposed to say? ‘She’s unreasonably jealous, and refused to come’? Zevran placed himself in the adjacent chair. The warrior glanced at Hawke, wondering what to expect from her, since she’d left without a word after their uncomfortable conversation. She didn’t pay him much special attention, and behaved like nothing had happened, so he relaxed a bit. The last thing he wanted was a scene in front of everyone. A moment later his eyes went to the stranger. He could smell magic on him, which drew his attention. The Tevinter frowned; the magic he sensed was powerful, to the point that his markings almost tingled.

“This is Wilbur,” Hawke introduced the man.

Fenris only watched him. He wasn’t even aware that his eyes narrowed suspiciously.

Varric laughed out loud. “Some things never change, do they, Elf!”

“Is there a problem?” the stranger asked. His voice seemed to sound innocent, but that innocence was forced. Fenris knew he put that mage on edge, and he was glad. He’d be watched, and he should know that he was being watched.

“She makes poor choices in mage friends,” the warrior replied, nodding in Hawke’s direction to indicate he meant her. “A blood mage who was too naïve to understand what she had done, a maleficarum who bombed the chantry building, murdering innocent people. So, what are you?”

“Feeeenris,” Aveline said in a tone that mothers scold their children.

“Ehehehe,” Wilbur made a forced chuckle, clearly uncertain how to react to that. “You sure are honest.”

“Fenris doesn’t trust mages,” Hawke explained. “Well, at least until they prove to be harmless.”

“Very few _are_ harmless,” the Tevinter mumbled.

“Elf, stop ruining the mood,” Varric said, and took the cards out. “Prepare some coin instead.”

Fenris felt Zevran’s hand on his back, rubbing him gently and supportively. He relaxed a bit, and then his attention was drawn away by a server, who brought some food.

OOO

Nadami tossed in bed. It was too big for one person. Too much space. Too soft. Too…. too empty.

She got up and went to the kitchen. She drank some water, then started walking around the house. It wasn’t that late yet, but she didn’t know what to do with herself. She felt like something was crushing her, and she just wanted it to go away. Sometimes sleep helped, but now even sleep wasn’t coming. She was tired after the trip to Kirkwall, and exhausted after crying, but at the same time restless.

She started reading the titles of books collected in the main room. Her finger slowly slid across the spines of neatly placed volumes, while her mouth was silently saying the words. She wasn’t even paying much attention to them, or trying to find anything to occupy her time, but suddenly something drew her attention. It was the name of that viscount dwarven friend of Fenris. He wrote books?

She took it, and turned to check the description on the back cover. She expected it to be something related to his work in the city, political essays perhaps, but to her surprise it was fiction. A story of some sort.

“I’m sure it’s about this great fantastic hero that saved the entire city,” she mumbled bitterly to herself.

The description didn’t suggest it was, so her curiosity took over.

She curled up in a big armchair near a window, and started reading in the fading light.

OOO

“Shhhhh,” Fenris poked Zevran, who laughed a bit too loud for this hour. “She’s most likely sleeping.”

“Oh, _si, si_ ,” Zevran nodded, covering his mouth with his hand, and giggling.

They returned from the Hanged Man a bit tipsy, but also with a bit more coin. Zevran had a lot of luck that evening. And a lot of good hunches. He could now buy a lot more soaps for Nadami.

He took off his boots, and slowly, on his toes, headed toward the bedroom. Surprised, he saw the bed was empty. His head cleared immediately, as his thoughts started imagining what silly thing she might have done this evening. She had been so upset, and she did stupid when upset.

He went to search for Fenris, and found him leaning against a door frame, looking into the main room.

“She’s so beautiful,” the Tevinter whispered to him.

Zevran looked inside, and to his relief saw Nadami sleeping in a big armchair. An open book lay on the floor. It looked like it had slid out of her hands when she’d fallen asleep. A small candle set near her head was almost completely burnt out by now. The dying flame reflected in her red hair, enhancing its colour.

“She’s perfection,” Zevran nodded in agreement.

Fenris bounced off the doorframe, approached her, then very gently lifted her in his arms, and carried to bed. She mumbled something, making herself comfortable in his arms, which brought a sweet smile to his lips. Zevran watched them both, admiring the wonderful view.

He went for a past-midnight snack, but heard Fenris rumbling in the bathroom a bit, cursing when he made too much noise, then silence.

By the time the Antivan went to the bedroom to finally lay down, he saw Fenris spooning tightly Nadami in their big bed. He wondered if hugging her so much caused any discomfort to the Tevinter’s markings, but he could easily understand why this show of affection in spite of his own pain.

He tried to chase away _her_ pain.

Ignoring the other bed, Zevran climbed into the big one, and lay on his side, watching them. Finally his eyelids grew heavy, and closed for peaceful slumber.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains my extremely hostile opinion on Isabela. If you like her, you’ve been warned. I am NOT open to arguments how wrong I am or to defend my opinion. This info is from the game itself and one of comic books, I just included it. I despise her; you won’t change my mind.

“Now I know why they’ve been hiding you,” a cheerful voice said behind Nadami.

She turned to see a tall, lanky man. His unruly dark hair fell into his bright blue eyes, so he blew a lock away. It promptly returned to exactly where it had been.

The trio had been in Kirkwall for three days now, but it was the first time Nadami joined the rest of the group for the morning briefing. Fenris had thought her input could be valuable, so insisted for her to come to the Keep.

And now she was here, being smiled at by a cute man.

“Um…” she mumbled. “You flatter me.”

He watched her for a moment longer, but then realised he’d made her uncomfortable, so went to sit at the big table in the middle of the room, leaving her alone.

Except for the two of them the room was empty. Varric had assigned this place for their planning, and there was already a pile of papers and maps on the table. A number of messily arranged chairs, probably left like that yesterday.

She hadn’t joined them before, because she didn’t see the point. Fenris was invited here by his old friend – or more likely lured under false pretences by his old lover who wanted to get him back – and neither Zevran nor she had been expected. The Antivan, naturally, invited himself. He could never sit on his hands and do nothing, so where there was activity, there was also he. She had no such need. She spent those days exploring the city, reading, and trying to cook. The market in Lowtown offered a surprisingly wide range of non-local foodstuffs, and she started experimenting to kill the time.

But last night Fenris had insisted for her to join, so she did. Still not sure what she could offer to their team.

Zevran entered from the adjacent room, and took a chair at the table. He glanced at Nadami, winked at her, sent a kiss, the slightly frowned, seeing her unchanged miserable expression.

A moment later Varric, Fenris, and Hawke entered too. The dwarf spread a map on the table in front of himself, and started studying it, leaning his hands on the table. Hawke hovered undecidedly around, until Fenris sat down; she promptly took a chair right next to him.

Nadami’s lips thinned.

She stayed where she was. Both Zevran and Fenris gestured for her to join them at the table, but she didn’t want to. That little defiance at being forced to come here made her feel a little bit better. Besides, she could hear all they were saying. She was not going to pretend she was part of their ‘team’.

“All right,” Varric started, “Aveline passed on some information. It’s… confusing.”

“How so?” Fenris asked.

“At first it seemed that they appeared at random. Here, here and here,” the dwarf said, poking the map in three places.

“The time between their appearances was random,” Hawke continued. “Or so we thought, but my guess is that there is a pattern for each place. They come to each in an equal intervals.” Fenris frowned, so she explained, “They hide in this cave every two weeks. They hide in this one every four weeks. We haven’t determined the timing of the third one yet.”

“That’s awfully regular,” Zevran noted. “How can they secure such a stable flow of their captives?”

“No idea,” Varric replied. “Aveline keeps an eye on things, but she hasn’t noticed any disappearances. Guard patrols near the alienage are more frequent, but it doesn’t look like anything bad going on over there.”

“They don’t have many at a time, fifteen people at most, but it’s a lot of people over a longer time. And it seems like no one is missing.”

Nadami frowned. “Humans usually pretend they don’t see anything,” she said. “Until it affects them directly – their own servant, their own favourite carpenter or their own gardener – they are glad fewer elves are around. They wouldn’t report anything.”

“Even when asked by guard?”

Nadami snorted with contempt. “I have yet to meet a human who wouldn’t think lying to guard, who also doesn’t care, would not be met with guard’s gratitude that no elf needs to be found.”

“It’s not how things work over here!” Hawke clearly took offence to that, and Nadami felt some satisfaction at ruffling her feathers.

“Maybe they’re not from the Kirkwall region. Did anyone ask Sebastian if there are problems in Starkhaven?” Fenris asked.

While they kept discussing contacting the mentioned Sebastian person, Nadami started to feel there was something familiar about the whole situation. Her rushing thoughts tuned out the rest of conversation, even though they were more of impressions than logical conclusions. She was brought back to the real world when chairs started shuffling, as everybody rose.

“We’re going to one of those caves,” Fenris said, looking at her. He had to notice she was lost in thoughts.

“I’ll go with you,” she replied to his surprise.

OOO

Fenris could swear that the Wounded Coast didn’t change at all in the last few years. He felt like he could recognise grass blades he’d seen before. Same flowers still growing in the same places. There were maybe a few more crashed ships half-sank in water.

He inhaled deeply, enjoying the smell of the sea. He approached the side of the road, closed his eyes, and took another deep breath. He could hear the steps of the others moving away, but sensed someone approaching him.

“Somehow, it’s always pretty here,” Hawke said.

“Indeed,” he replied.

She stood for a moment, silently, but when he finally opened his eyes, and looked at her, she asked, “Did you consider staying in Kirkwall?”

“Staying?”

She nodded. “Making it your home again.”

He shook his head. “I’d need a reason, and it doesn’t depend only on me,” he said. And the truth was, he had no reason, and Nadami and Zevran would have a hard time trying to convince him to stay; not even mentioning Nadami hated this place too.

He wasn’t sure why she’d asked, but expected her to want to hear a different answer. Instead, she slightly smiled. He looked away from her face toward the horizon. So the question was to make sure he didn’t plan to stay. Strangely, he didn’t care. Whatever she wanted, it had no emotional impact on him.

He didn’t know when she’d returned from Anderfels, and hadn’t asked. If she had seen no reason to tell him herself about her plans of going over there back then, and Varric had had to write him about it, he didn’t bother asking. He wasn’t a person to be up to date with her plans, and he was all right with it. He re-built his life, and she wasn’t a part of it any more. She hadn’t bothered to write him, and now made sure he didn’t intend to overstay his welcome in _her_ city.

Fine with him!

He resumed his walk, then started jogging to catch up with the rest of his group. He heard her steps behind him, but didn’t look back to see if she could keep up with him.

OOO

Nadami tried not to think about Fenris and Hawke separating and staying together behind. Zevran seemed oblivious or not caring. So she tried not to care either. She tried very, very hard.

Thankfully, they arrived to some cave–the stench from the inside was horrible–which drew her thoughts to more immediate matters than losing her husband.

The group entered the cave quietly. According to the slavers’ schedule, it should be empty, but one could never be completely sure. Their conclusions could be wrong, or someone else might be hiding over here now.

Like spiders. Mabari-sized spiders.

Most of the cave was a regular, unremarkable place. There were signs sometimes people found here shelter, but nothing special, until they finally arrived in a vast round-ish space without an exit.

There were two cages inside. Usually, anything metal left behind was covered by rust due to general humidity and water dripping from walls and ceilings, but the cages were in a very good condition.

“Why would they leave perfectly fine cages behind?” Zevran wondered out loud.

Nadami looked around. One entrance: easy to guard. Well-kept cages: no chance of escape from one that wasn’t falling apart. Regular appearances.

“It’s a stop in a chain,” she whispered more to herself than anyone else.

“A what?” Varric asked.

She looked at him. Now everybody’s attention was on her.

“It would have to be confirmed to be absolutely certain, but I’ve seen this twice so far,” she said. “They don’t just stop here for the night. One group brings their captives here, another waits to pick them up, and deliver to the next stop in the chain, until they end up in their destination.”

“Tevinter,” Fenris interjected.

“This is why they are so regular. One group has to know when to come to pick up the people.”

“Why would they do it this way?” Wilbur asked.

“It’s faster,” Nadami explained. “You can capture small groups. Or even a couple of people here and there in a relatively small area. You can have a dozen or two without anyone noticing, bring them to the drop point, then return to your area or change to a new one, and keep it on. The points collect their captives, growing bigger and bigger the closer they are to Tevinter. Slavers are hired among locals, because they don’t need to travel much or far. Usually regular thugs who appreciate additional income.” She sighed. “I didn’t know this thing existed here too. It made sense in Ferelden, because a few chains could fill an entire slaver ship to the brim, so they didn’t have to pay for a half-empty cargo hall. I learnt that when I was tracking that Rivaini slaver whore you fucked years ago,” she said with contempt, looking at Zevran. “Her ship could take around 60 elves, and she rarely wasn’t full. I never managed to catch this piece of shit,” she sighed, clenching her fists with anger.

“ ‘Rivaini slaver whore’?” Varric asked, frowning slightly.

“She means Isabela. You knew her,” Zevran clarified. The dwarf’s face showed that he suspected exactly that.

“That thief who caused the Qunari massacre in Kirkwall?” Hawke almost laughed out loud.

“She was a slaver?!” Fenris roared. “On top of fantasising about Danarius raping me, she was also a slaver?!” He was furious.

“Be glad she didn’t sell you back to him,” Nadami snorted at him, “and next time pay better attention to your… friends.” She spat the last word.

“She did ask us to help her out with a guy who was pissed she hadn’t delivered the cargo, remember?” Hawke mumbled, frowning in concentration, while recalling the events that had taken place years earlier. “I never asked what that cargo was.”

“People. Her ‘cargo’ was elves. And she didn’t deliver it because she’d drowned them. I sent Orlesians after her, but when they caught her on the sea, her cargo hold was empty. The filthy slaver drowned them all to get rid of evidence of her crime.”

“I should have killed her.” Fenris paced frantically back and forth.

“We always knew she was up to no good. Can we get back to the current problem?” Varric said.

“The current problem is that this is a small step in a big operation,” Nadami said. “Even if we interrupt this step, they will find another stop to use for the same purpose. We could cause a delay, but not completely stop it.”

“So what do you suggest?” Fenris growled at her. “That we just walk away from this?”

Her eyes were hard when she looked at him. “Believe it or not, I know more about slave trade than you do,” she shot. “Stopping this properly requires time, investigation, work, and co-operation of many people.”

“And in the meantime more people will end up as slaves in Tevinter. Because you want to play bureaucracy!”

His accusations hurt her. She squinted eyes at him, and was just about to come up with a harsh retort, when Zevran stood between them, extending his arms, as if to keep them separated. “What if we interrupt their chain?” he said. “Wouldn’t that help with tracking the whole chain? The interruption would cause some waves in their neat plans, yes?”

“I don’t care. I won’t allow anyone else suffer, even if I have to intercept each transport one by one,” Fenris said.

Nadami ran to him, and defiantly looked in his face. “Are you accusing me of something?” she hissed.

He opened his mouth to bark something back, but instead took a deep breath, and forced himself to calm down. He exhaled loudly, then asked, “Is there a way of investigating and of saving them at the same time?”

“Yes,” she replied, still angrily looking into his eyes, and still not hiding how offended she was by his words. “You just need to make sure you don’t free them too late and some slaver whore doesn’t drown them first.”

His eyes softened. “You can’t be blamed for someone else’s actions,” he said softly.

Her nose wrinkled. “Don’t patronise me,” she snarled.

“I only meant–”

She rapidly walked away, not listening to him.

But he’d seen it in her eyes, she knew. Guilt. If she hadn’t followed the rules and the law, she’d just save those people before they got taken aboard that ship. They’d still be alive. But back then she’d done things right, and everything later had gone wrong. All those lives were lost, and the slaver got away.

That had been the last time Nadami followed the regulations. She’d become a lot more loose since.

To hear Fenris now doubt her like this… It’d hurt less if he pulled her heart out of her chest.

“I told you what I suspect,” she said louder to everybody. “Do with this information what you will.”

Then, not waiting for any answer or reaction, she headed toward the exit from the cave. She needed to get out of there before she’d suffocate.


End file.
